''Pepper II'' is an

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arca ...

programmed by

Exidy Exidy was a developer and manufacturer of coin-operated amusements. The company was founded by H.R. "Pete" Kauffman and Samuel Hawes in 1973. The name "Exidy" was a portmanteau of the words "Excellence in Dynamics". Notable games released by Exid ...

and published in 1982. Despite its name, there was no predecessor named ''Pepper'' or ''Pepper I.'' Its gameplay is similar to the game ''

Amidar ''Amidar'' is a video game developed by Konami and released in arcades in 1981 by Stern. The format is similar to that of ''Pac-Man'': the player moves around a fixed rectilinear lattice, attempting to visit each location on the board while a ...

'' by Konami and Stern Electronics. Coleco published ''Pepper II'' for its

ColecoVision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer expe ...

home system. The game plays Gounod's "

Funeral March of a Marionette Funeral March of a Marionette (French: ) is a short piece by Charles Gounod. It was originally written for solo piano in 1872 and orchestrated in 1879. It is perhaps best known as the theme music for the television program ''Alfred Hitchcock Presen ...

" when gameplay starts.

Gameplay

There are four

maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...

s per level in ''Pepper II''. Each maze has exits leading to three other mazes. All four mazes must be filled to advance to the next level. To fill in a maze, the player maneuvers "Pepper" around different segments of the maze. As Pepper travels, he leaves a "zipper". Once he encloses or "zips" a segment, it fills in and points are awarded. If Pepper backtracks on an uncompleted segment, it unzips. The character "Pepper" is an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

. There are two types of enemies that must be avoided: Roaming Eyes and the Whippersnapper (Zipper Ripper on the ColecoVision version) who unzips all uncompleted, zipped segments by moving over them. Pepper's one defense is to enclose an area containing a

pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

, which turns him into a

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

for approximately four seconds. At that time he can go after all Roaming Eyes for points while the Whippersnapper freezes. There are four pitchforks in the corners of every maze. A deluxe energizer is located in the center of each maze. This energizer alternates between being a pitchfork and a

halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

symbol. If Pepper encloses the middle area when the energizer is a halo, the Whippersnapper disappears from the maze. Points are made for enclosing a segment, consuming a pair of roaming

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

s when energized by the pitchfork (similar to ''

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

''), obtaining prizes, completing a maze, and completing 6 mazes. A bonus turn is awarded at 40,000, 50,000, 70,000 or 90,000 points, depending on the dip switch settings. When a full screen (of the six) has been completely filled, "

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is a song composed by Allie Wrubel with lyrics by Ray Gilbert for the Disney 1946 live action and animated movie '' Song of the South'', sung by James Baskett. For "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", the film won the Academy Award for Best ...

" is briefly heard. When six full screens are completed, a small cube appears at the bottom of the screen to mark your progress at completing cubes. Each maze also contains a prize in one of the segments. The player must enclose the area it appears in to gain the prize and points, and then the prize is shown beneath the maze.

Development

The original working title of the game was ''Zipper''. The name was hastily changed after a copyright search revealed an unrelated product by the same name. The

NABU Network The NABU Network (Natural Access to Bi-directional Utilities) was an early home computer system which was linked to a precursor of the World Wide Web, operating over cable TV. It operated from 1982 to 1985, primarily in Ottawa, Canada. Its functio ...

service featured a game titled Zipper, which is almost identical in gameplay to ''Pepper II''; suggesting it may have been an actual port based on the scrapped design plan.

References

External links

Arcade manual
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* 1982 video games Arcade video games ColecoVision games Fiction about the Devil Exidy games Maze games Video games about demons Video games developed in the United States {{arcade-stub

Gameplay

Development

See also

References

External links